Disclosure: This is a collaborative post with Villa finders around planning a family holiday.
Travelling with kids, especially young children can be stressful for everyone. You have no idea how they will react out of their routine, a different location where they can be too hot or don’t have their normal foods. So it’s always useful to have a few hacks under your belt to keep your family holiday as stress free as possible.
So why not check out ways to minimise stress and the best ways to meet your family’s needs for the perfect family holiday with this blog post.
Table of Contents
Stay In A Villa When Planning a Family Holiday
Yes, there are all inclusive resorts which are lovely, but this isn’t always relaxing and stress free for the parents! Kids running in all directions, busy swimming pools and not much good quality time as a family (as the children are off in kids’ clubs all day). However, you can opt to stay in a villa instead. In a villa you can relax in your own calm space and even a private pool. These Italy villas below look perfect for families. You can even use Villa Finders concierge service to book extras such as a private chef or bespoke tours and find the best deal possible for you. Italy is a perfect destination for multigenerational trips, with lots of things to do at any time of year and good food too!
- Trullo Giamar, Brindisi – A beautiful traditional look property, with 3 bedrooms for smaller groups, a swimming pool and only a few minutes drive to the beach.
- Villa Ferrara, Campania – A gorgeous location near Sorrento where you can catch a boat to the beautiful island of Capri. 4 bedrooms, a pool and stunning views from the garden
- Stella Maris, Sicily – A beautiful modern property, with 3 bedrooms and steps down to the beach. The beautiful mediterranean sea right at your door!
If you don’t want to cook a meal you can head out for dinner. Alternatively you can cook meals for your kids that they will actually eat too. Villas have plenty of space to store snacks and food brought from home. Plus you can let the kids play without worrying about making too much noise for hotel neighbours. And best of all you can spend all that quality time together in the pool. Or at the local beaches and just enjoying the outdoor garden areas of the villa together.
Involve The Kids In Choosing the Destination
If your kids are old enough to get involved in the destination choosing, then do it! Do you have somewhere in mind? Then simply give them some options of locations in that country. If the children are involved with the planning then they are going to be more invested in the holiday. Let them choose some places to visit, whether it’s amusement parks, water parks, beach vacations or museums. This is a great way to get kids really interested in the trip and their travel time!
Pack Snacks From Home
If your child is very fussy about food then bring a few packs of snack that you know they will like. Then if there are any emergency hangry moments with the kids, you’ll have something that you know they’ll eat and keep them going a little longer!
Also if you choose a villa and cook there, you can bring some food the kids would like too. Preferably all sealed and in a bag in your checked luggage! It’s always easier to have a few cheap meals the kids will eat, just in case the local shops don’t have anything they like the look of. However, it’s also a good chance to get the kids to try things off your plate in restaurants. Maybe they‘ll find something new that they enjoy!
Choose The Best Time To Travel
Consider your families needs and choose the best time for you to travel. Yes, most people with kids will have to follow the school holiday times. But you can choose to visit a warm European country when it’s slightly cooler in Easter or October, when it’s not too hot for children. Or travel up to Scotland for a UK trip in late August when the Scottish school holidays are over and attractions are less busy. There’s always a preferred time to travel depending on your families needs!
Water Play When Planning a Family Holiday
Kids love water, well most do, skip this if your child doesn’t! We’ve found that building in time for water play on holiday always helps. Whether this is swimming in full wetsuits in Scottish seas to jumping in the pool in a hot country. Try and plan plenty of time for the kids in the pool or sea. It‘s an almost guaranteed way to keep children happy if they are able to cool down or just splash around.
Make A Busy Bag For The Kids
When me children were young I used to make them both a ‘busy bag’. Basically a tote bag filled with different activities based on their ages. These could be anything from putting pegs to match letters, rubbings of different pictures, gel window clings and sticker or colouring books. It’s such a good idea to have activities to keep the kids busy without much adult input, both for on the airplane, in the car or at your accommodation.
Check Passports When Planning a Family Holiday
This is a big one! Always, always, always check the entire family passports. There’s nothing worse than the stress of not having a passport with enough time on it, then trying to find a one-day passport appointment! Make sure the whole family has their passport checked for dates and renew well in advance of it’s expiration date.
During the planning process it’s also essential to remember all the other important documents including travel insurance and visas. This includes people heading from the UK to Europe from 2025, who will need an ETA to enter the EU. If you are using a travel agent then they should be able to assist you with the required travel documents, including visa requirements.
Plan Downtime Each Day
This is important for each family member on your family trip. Downtime is important for kids, at least a half day of chilled time in the pool or playing on a beach. The other half can be for visiting museums, boat trips or art galleries. But kids need more time to just play if you want them to be happy, rather than moaning on the trip. The same applies to teenagers, sure they like to think they are really grown up, but they probably need time to chill doing nothing too.
And us adults? We get exhausted too! Plan some time to relax in the evening or afternoon, rather than wearing yourself out stomping around cities all day!
Download The Children’s Favourite Apps
It’s useful to download the kids favourite apps on their tablet ahead of travelling. That way they can have them available to play without wifi on the journey. You might not want to let them half too much screen time on holiday, but it’s always useful for long waits on the journey there and back!
Our favourite podcasts for a family road trip with both young kids and older children are listed here in this blog post about family podcasts.
Explain Rules and Expectations When Planning a Family Holiday
Before you go off on holiday, sit down as a family and explain the rules and expectations for when you are away. If everyone is on the same page with the type of behaviour that is expected then it will make the trip easier. This does also mean that older kids can hold adults to account as well! If the teens aren’t allowed on their phones whenever they want, then neither can the adults!
Be Flexible
If you want to have a good time on holiday with the kids it’s important to be flexible. This doesn’t just mean let the kids do whatever they want though, just to have less of a routine and probably more ice cream than usual. Or open to the routine changing, depending on your kids needs. Obviously all kids need different things, with some thriving on a set routine, others needing to know what is happening each day, plus those that are more spontaneous. But if you see something fun to do, even if it’s not in the plan, be flexible and just fit it in. Or if the kids really want to stay up late and see a show, do it. Then make sure you have a bit of extra time for a lie-in the following morning.
Bring The Sunscreen!
One of the most essential items in your luggage should be the sunscreen. Strangely enough it seems to be extra expensive abroad and often they aren’t the same formulas as at home. For example we were in Sicily and ran out, so bought some from a nearby pharmacy, it claimed it was 50+, but we all had bad sunburn that afternoon after using it. So to be on the safe side make sure you buy your preferred brands at home to bring with you. If you are taking hand luggage only then decant the sunscreen into 100ml bottles to go through security.
Make Sure Everyone Gets Time To Sleep
A lot of the time kids are kept up late on holiday and then are grumpy the next day as they didn’t get enough sleep. It’s completely understandable that you or they want them to stay up later than normally. But consider your child’s sleep patterns. Do they ALWAYS wake up early, or will they sleep in if they stay up late. If they are early risers (my eldest always has been), then plan a few early nights too, so they can get enough sleep. If they will sleep in on a morning then make sure you plan easy mornings after the late nights. There’s nothing worse on holiday than tired and grumpy kids! This is especially important if the kids have lots of new experiences and try new things, they need time to process!
Give The Teens Independence
If you have teenagers consider giving them a little independence. Let them browse the market stalls in their own time or explore a town. Arrange a meeting point or ensure they have a phone to get in touch if they get lost. Or if they don’t want to explore alone then get them to choose the day’s plans, follow their lead and let them show you the sights instead!
Pack Smart When Planning a Family Holiday
Pack carefully and make sure you have the children’s favourite clothes, being comfortable is important. And don’t forget items from their usual routines, such as a soft toy for bedtime, favourite stories they like before bed or an alarm clock for school aged children if they like to know the time they can get up.
I’d also suggest using packing cubes to separate out each member of the families clothing so you can easily find them! If you need a car seat then pack an inflatable one such as bubblebum or even take a hard seat onto the plane for kids to sit in safely.
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